Trying to Get Sew Organized

Amongst other things today, I decided to finally get through the two bins of various fabric that has been sitting in "Bob" for quite a few weeks now. I discovered them when I cleaned out behind Gabe's bed a while back.   A little over a bin full is going back to my mom, but the remainder made me think that I really needed to get on top of some of my sewing projects or I'm going to have to not do them at all.  So, I decided today was the day. I sat down and dusted off (literally) my mom's old surger and started with a small piece to get the loose threads though.  First time, a thread came out. Not big deal, needed to fix the tension...apparently someone has been playing with the knobs.  Got it all strung up properly and continued on.  Wow, what a noise!  I opened it up thinking someone was trapped and trying to get out to discover that I had bent the needle.  Of course. I finally set out to do something and something goes wrong.  It's been one of those weeks though. I tried to finally use my deep fryer I bought a month ago only to discover I didn't have enough oil to fill it to minimum, I got the sandwiches made for french dips only to realize I didn't have au jus packets or beef bullion anywhere, and I decided to make salsa but was instead greeted with spoiled cilantro in the fridge.  Just one of those weeks.  There is more, but I wont go into it.

On the positive side, I finally found a use for the picnic basket that we never use but that I think is adorable...

I also found what I think was an old server tower that works perfectly as a potato/root bin.

  Notice how perfectly it fits in that little niche that left for space in the kitchen?  The only thing I wish was  easy to add was some casters, but hubby says that's going to take a little bit of work which means if I wait for that to be done it will be in the garage until it's ruined.  So, I gorilla taped felt to the bottom. Tacky, yes. Functional and easy, yes. I can live with tacky if it's functional enough. Now, maybe I should get the basket off the top of that poor spider plant.  And as you can see I got oil, so I think french fries are in our future.  God bless!

I Loathe the Flylady

After finishing the day with the kids by refusing to stay in the awful mess that is my children's rooms to do our bedtime ritual, I did the sensible thing: I googled "help! My messy house is making me a crazy cranky mom!". Ok, so maybe that isn't the sensible thing to do.  It was somewhat calming to know I'm not the only mother who feels this way.  I do wish sometimes that I was one of those special people who can not even see the mess.  But as my mom pointed out, that is likely a road that leads to some reality television show.  Even so, I wish I could be calm in chaos.  I'm just not. So, looking for solutions I went to a frequently recommended site, flylady.com. 
Oh, flylady, how you taunt me.  I don't really hate her, but it always seems I read the most ridiculous suggestions of how my life "could and should" be on her site.  The gem of tonight, bedtime routines. Her's includes cleaning the kitchen just after dinner, running a bath, quick clutter patrol, free time, devotions and snuggles with the hubby.  Gag, laugh, sputter and snort.  Really, the image of her telling me it is possible to have such a routine with three children, critters and a spouse that is certainly not a cleaning makes me almost violent.  It's not that I begrudge her the life of luxury, but that she somehow implies that this is possible given the right amount of work and planning really ticks me off.  I think I have the same feelings toward Dave Ramsey.  Sure, being out of debt is a great thing, but taking advice and giving TONS of money to a dude that made his millions off of those looking for help just seems so wrong.  Life doesn't always....or ever really...work according to a book.  Well, not just any book. So, that is where I need to be going. What does the Bible say about a messy house?
Nothing. It says nothing about a messy house.  It says loads about how we treat each other, quite a bit on not being lazy and fair amount on our attitudes.  So, lets see, advice to live by for today...for me. Take what you will.

1)But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  -Matt.6:33

What is my priority? Do I make time for this one?  And the peace that I've been lacking is promised if I do this. So, my first priority should be to make time to seek the Lord....even if the sink is overflowing and the cat just vomited on the floor.  I need this to be a priority.

 2)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

-Matthew 18:1-6

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

-Colossians 3:21

My children are precious, God has a plan for them and their lives. I need to remember to treat them as the gifts that they are.  I also need to remember that they are on loan from God, ultimately they are His and my time with them, in this role is limited.  It wont last forever and I need to make sure it is spend wisely and cherished.

3)Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
-Proverbs 22:6

Again, God has a plan for their lives. My role as a mother is to prepare them for whatever may await their future.  I will seek the plan God has for their lives and teach them to do the same. I also need to teach them the skills and wisdom they will need in those roles, which likely will include laundry.  Unless of course they join a nudist colony.  Even then I'm sure they will still need to learn some cleaning skills.  

4) Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
-Nehemiah 8:9-11

The JOY of the Lord is my strength. Not the sorrow, not the anger, not the judgement or vengeance.  The joy!  What a wonderful God we have if His joy is what gives are strength and spurs us on. And what an example of leadership.  I wonder what the outcome of a truly joyful mommy would be on our household. One that is a servant, like our Lord, and is joyful in the tasks set before her.  

This is my prayer and hope, that our house can be a joyful place, a peaceful place, and Lord willing, a semi-clean place.  But in the end, I can stress myself out about the mess, I can beg and plead, bribe and cry for help with things, if it's not God led, it wont last. If I don't follow the Lord with my own heart, attitudes and actions, what hope is there of my children developing a relationship with the Lord that will also result in a giving, loving, servants heart?  No, tomorrow is a new day, and tomorrow this mommy will devote herself to her God, her husband, her children, her neighbors, her creatures, and let the other pieces fall where they may. God promised to provide, and I've walked with Him long enough to know he will.  Sometimes I just need a reminder.  

Oh, and bless the flylady in her bubble bath too.  When we walk the streets of gold together, it really isn't going to matter who had a shiny sink.

A Series of Unfortunate and Average Events

Oh my children....I sometimes wonder if they are truly scheming to make me mad.  Or perhaps I'm part of some sinister experiment to find out how many minor frustrating events it takes to cause a normal person to become crazy.  No, that can't be it, they would have to start with a normal person to begin with.  My mom is taking a friend out lunch, so I can't call and cry to her about my frustrating morning. So, I'm typing it here...and ignorning the sounds emanating from Bob (what we call that middle dining/school/living/etc. room for lack of a proper name).

So today my morning goals, get eggs cleaned and in containers, do the dishes, start the laundry, go through a bag of clothes to give away.  My first obstacle was in the form of bird seed scattered all over the kitchen, from the last child I told to feed the bird, sticking to my feet cause my nerves to begin to twitch.  While I was in process of mopping up random spots in the kitchen to use the vacuum, my youngest came in and demanded I make penne noodles.  I told him no, not for breakfast, and put them back. He proceeded to whine...another sure way to make those nerves fire...then threw a mini tantrum while putting them away causing half the box to dump on the floor.  So now the floor is bird seed mingled with pasta and the floor must be done before I can even think of tackling my to do list. While I'm bringing the vacuum in, my daughter decides she wants to sweep, which in theory is a good thing.

During this time my oldest is trying to mow the lawn and I have to run out and adjust the settings as he's badly lugging the motor.  As I'm returning my youngest again has a melt down because I wont let him go outside while his brother is mowing.  His helpful sister enlists him to handle the dust pan and they proceed to sweep while I vacuum.  I finish and am able to get the eggs cleaned and put in the fridge.  I begin to put away the dishes in the dishwasher only to be joined by a helpful youngest who wants to put away the silverware.  I decide to push the ewww factor when thinking about how dirty his hands are and let him do it. Our immune systems need to work out sometimes, right?  We finish this task and I begin loading the dishes. He returned just in time to help his sister move the dog crates to sweep behind them, spilling water all over the floor in the process.  I finish loading dishes and go to move the crates back.

When I return little miss is getting herself chocolate milk and saying things like, "It was good of me to ask you, wasn't it?" all the while.  In fact, she is paying so much attention to how good she is being that she isn't paying any attention to what she is actually doing and manages to dump an entire glass of chocolate milk on the floor. I grab towels, tell her to go in the other room, I'll get her more later and please pay attention in the future. I would have normally made her help in the clean up but by now my frustration levels have risen to the "red alert" mark.  After pushing my sham-wow equivalent into the crease where trim has not yet been put up and milk has seeped, I collect all the dirty rags and run them over to the other side of the house, and into the wash.  Milk, allowed to set in towels results in stinky throw away towels.  Trust me, we've done this many times.

On my walk back to the kitchen I notice my phone sitting open with what appears to be dirt on it.  Sighing, I grab it and proceed into the kitchen to grab a baby wipe to clean it. After cleaning and drying the phone, I notice some weird brown liquid on my hand...and now back on my phone.  I look at the baby wipe container and it is covered in it. Smelling it, I determine it is not anything frightening...but wait....that's....vanilla.  The expensive vanilla extract container that me in my hurried stupidity had left on the counter was on it's side and had not been shut.  About 1/4 the contents were spilled all over the counter.  I thought, how blonde of me to now shut the lid then realized that brown spot on the phone was the vanilla.  The bottle was apparently too tempting for my youngest as he took the rest of the banana bread, and subsequently dropped some in the living room and tried to feed the rest that he claimed he wanted to the dog....dropping crumbs the whole way shortly after I had vacuumed.   After cleaning the phone, baby wipe container, counters, bottle of vanilla and my hands, I felt mommy needed a short time out to put it all down and hope it would bring some humor or at least calm back to me.  It has worked as far as the calm,  I'll have to wait a while, I think, for the humor.

Wow, what happened to my kitchen.

Just a quick post to tattle on myself and my family for the ridiculous disarray that they frequently leave my house in.  Here is what I was welcomed to after a mommy break outing:

Apparently here my four year old son was looking for something. Notice the chair to climb up and all the cupboards left open.
































And this is what it looks like if I miss doing dishes for a day.  It was my birthday though, so I refuse to feel bad about it.

This is our bird Micah and one of his favorite spots.  It's rather annoying because as many bird owners know a healthy bird poops every fifteen minutes.  I go through a lot of baby wipes cleaning up after him.  It is rather humorous watching him swing on the door when we get into the fridge.  What does he have to do with the post though?  Well, he also like to climb in cupboards and explore, so when they are left open he occasionally enters and has more than one been shut in.  It also means I get to clean that cupboard because of the aforementioned bird fact.




















So,  at least a half hour of frantic cleaning and my kitchen now looks like this:

 

Not perfect, but certainly an improvement.  I can be sane when it's in this state. Otherwise, I'm a little crazy....and I never want to cook when it's a mess.  Go figure.  To be honest though, it's a mess again from making oven fried chicken last night and baking banana bread.  So, no more blogging for me today, it's hubby's birthday and I have a kitchen to clean....again.

Testing: Vinegar and Baking soda on stainless steel sink

I decided that the bathroom has had enough love lately and it's time the sink got to shine.  Today I'm testing just a spray bottle of undiluted vinegar and a sprinkle of baking soda to clean a sink that hasn't been cleaned with a product besides a scrubbie and a spray of simple green to disinfect in....oh...at least a few months. It's not so much that I don't want to clean it, but it's usually full of dishes before a load is even finished making it a bit hard to clean. So here's the starting point.

Apparently I have some focus issues when taking pictures.  Oops.  Anyhow, I sprayed everything down with the vinegar then went a watched an episode of Dr. Who with hubby.  I know, so hard working.  When I came back I put on my gloves and started to wipe down the sink.  The original plan was just to use the vinegar but it really didn't do the job I was hoping for so it got a sprinkling of baking soda for some added oomph.  Because I was worried about it scratching the sink I made sure to only scrub with any force with the grain.  I did rub lightly in circles also.  I'd say it took about 20 minutes of "elbow grease" to get the sink, plugs, soap dish (that I use to hold the metal scrubbers to avoid rust), and little drain catch thing that I had to install because I'm special and actually broke the metal trap part in the sink while trying to pretend a butter knife was a garbage disposal causing many things to plug when they were dropped down...including the occasional utensil. Anyhow, I was pretty happy with the results for the effort.

Nice and shiny,  didn't quite get rid of the water spots on the fixture though.  Still need to figure out something for those. If you have any suggestions on things to try, please let me know.  Happy shiny sink day!

One of Those Days

Do you ever have a day where you feel like you've been running around all day long, but as it comes to an end you look around and it doesn't appear you've done anything?  Today is one of those days. Maybe it's just me, but these are the most frustrating of all the days. I'm tired, frazzled and seem to be worse off than when I started.

The kids room that I cleaned just yesterday is now covered in puzzles and dolly clothes. I've been riding the kids all day to pick it up because I'm NOT and I mean NOT going to pick it up again....this time.  They've been in there all day and I really think forcing them to do it is even more exhausting than doing it myself.  But if I don't, they will never learn, right?

I have hamburger thawing as quickly as I can in the sink as the microwave has been down since November.  I still haven't quite figured out what to make with it, but I am thankful it's there.

The dog has likely eaten the eggs from the chickens and ducks because I haven't bothered to bring him back in today and the other dog broke his collar so has been in all day in his crate, minus a few potty breaks.  So, as I'm awaiting my husband to come home, look around and wonder what on earth I did accomplish today, I thought I might quickly ponder what exactly I did do today, if for no other reason than to make myself feel better.

Today I:
Finished making the crock pot re-fried beans and got them portioned and frozen.
Worked on the mechanical turk some
Did two loads of dishes
Washed, dried and put away four loads of laundry
Child trained
Got insurance on the suburban
Made lunch
Making dinner
Installed and filled the new soap,shampoo, bubbles and lotion dispenser
Sorted some mail
Sorted a large pile of fabric items
Beat three levels on bubble safari

Ok, so maybe that last one doesn't count as an accomplishment.  But I'm going to call it a day once dinner is made and enjoy some crown in my diet soda and call it good.  Oh wait, I still need to put the kids to bed and clean up after dinner.  So that is my problem, I'm a sprinter running a marathon. 

Testing: Vinegar and Borax Bathroom Cleaning

Here we go again. I must say though, the bathrooms are getting much more attention as of late with my little experiments.  This time on trial, 1 part vinegar, 4 parts borax, making a paste.  First of all, I'm a ditz and mixed 1 cup borax, 1 cup vinegar and while it occurred to me this seemed unlikely to make a paste I figured I'd give it a try.  When it didn't I went back to the find the recipe and realized my mistake.  I had to add another 3 cups borax which actually turned out well as I used it all.  This was my starting point.

Yes, I know, it's still all stained.  

 And here, my darling husband just got doused in transmission fluid or some sort of gunk and didn't realize it. We had to throw his jeans away and it left the bathtub coated with this sludgy junk that smelled awful!





















And below is those pesky bathtub rings that the last homemade cleaner left on.  I should also note here that I tried the vinegar and generic dish soap with the same smelly, rather dismal results.

 So now I donned my rubber gloves, mushed and mixed my concoction and smeared it all over everything.  This was a challenge as I couldn't get the toilet to cooperate with my efforts to get rid of the water in the bowl and had to call hubby in for reinforcements.  I did manage to get it to not fill all the way and in the process found the likely culprit for the mineral stains.  The back of the toilet was AWFUL!  So, here is a few pictures of fixtures coated in their cleaning paste.

Then I left the room to watch a top gear with hubby.  The smell was very very mild compared to the other cleaner so evacuating the house wasn't necessary.  I returned about a half hour later with a sponge and started rubbing away.  It was a little bit of elbow grease but more rubbing than scrubbing. This was the end result of the sink and tub.

Not to shabby.  You'll notice the amazing lack of ring around the bathtub.  Shiny and nice smelling. Now, I have to admit here I cheated a bit.  While the toilet was clean and shiny the stains didn't fully come off, even with scrubbing and a magic eraser, and that pesky deposit in the corner of the bathtub also took some extra attention.  I located my trusty ole pumice stone and did away with those mineral deposits.  When I have more time and less people using the toilet I'll try the denture cleaner for the water portion of the toilet as I didn't really want to "go there". Here is the end result of my bathroom cleaning for the day.

So there you have it. Finally a bathroom cleaner that lived up to expectation.  While I was hoping it would get rid of the mineral deposits on the toilet I wasn't surprised it didn't.  I've tried all sorts of products to remove those, even iron off, to no avail. Didn't take but 5 minutes with a pumice stone. Silly me.  Smell was gone, both from the nasty grease stuff and the cleaning product and I didn't feel like I was dying while rubbing away at it.  I'd give this one an A for a regular bathroom cleaning product, even if your regular bathroom cleanings end up being every few weeks.  Happy cleaning!

Testing: Baking soda to clean oven glass

I really wanted to try some of the other bathroom cleaners but totally spaced on some of the ingredients. So today, something I do have. Baking soda.  I recently read a post where a fellow blogger said she noticed her stove was icky and used her "go to" cleaner: baking soda.  The end result was a pretty, shiny, perfect looking glass window to her oven stove.  Awesome I thought.  This is what mine currently looks like. 

So, apparently I think to clean the glass on the oven about as often as it occurs to me to vacuum behind the dryer.  With much anticipation I unwrapped a new sponge and covered window in baking soda.  After a bit of scrubbing I thought perhaps adding some liquid dish soap would help start to dissolve the grease and let the baking soda do it's work.

The results were rather underwhelming, at best.  I'm now determined to have a clean oven glass door. I grab my trusty standby tool.

It's eco friendly, cost effective and works really well. The downside, you can cut yourself, take off coating if there is any and scratch things if you aren't careful. Use at your own risk.  After five minutes of careful work with my trusty razor this is what I had.

Yea, much more gratifying.  Finishing up this is what I had.

I did go back over it with the baking soda and sponge but the kids were getting hungry and the little voices ringing in my ears made me forget to take the final picture.  It took a TON of elbow grease to get even the last part off.  I was getting worried I'd break the oven door off the hinges.  And this was only the small upper oven! So, another underwhelming home cleaning products. Oh, and there is also a residue from the baking soda, so if you still decide to use it after my experience my advice is this: rinse well and don't plan on doing it after an arm workout. 

Cleaning the bathroom shelf & 30 second pickup.

Exciting, I know.  Oh well, it give me something to look back on.  And it's been bugging me for a while now. First, the beginning.

Yikes, I know. First things first, clear it off.  I like to put things in a box or bin as I'm clearing so I don't spend a ton of time chasing things around on the floor or fishing them out of the catch in the drain. This is what we have when that is done.

 The shelf is breathing a sigh of relief. I wiped down everything with the baby wipe and proceeded to put everything in their proper places. 

Does anyone else having something like this laying around?  I bought it looking for a non-toxic deodorant that worked and it didn't.  Now what do I do with it?  For now my natural remedies bin is empty so I'm going to throw it in there.  I'll probably chuck it when I go through those bins or maybe look for some other alternative use for it.  Sorry, bunny trail there.

After everything is put away this is what I have left (notice the I also emptied the garbage):

Suddenly there is room!  I'm leaving the basket to toss my jewelry in at night so I can put it away with the light on in the morning.  I'm terrible at going to bed at the same time as hubby.

I put it all back and this is what I have. 

Ahhh....much better. As a side note, I think this warning label is hilarious and have left it on.

As I left the bathroom feeling all accomplished I noticed this:

30 seconds and a baby wipe later I had this:

And two little areas are clean!  Go me!  I'll just pretend I don't notice everything else for five minutes.  

Hall Closet/Pantry Revamp

What do you do when you have no pantry?  You turn the coat closet into one of course.  Ok, maybe it's just me, but that is how I've used that closet since we moved in.  It has really deep shelves though so my cans were constantly getting lost in the back, toppled over, and generally were a disaster.  My solution, move the back of each shelf up about an inch and put the shelves a little closer together making my own version of those cool can storage systems. You will also want to add a strip of wood at the front so all of your cans don't roll to the floor. I added the over the door thing for the box storage and put my dry beans and pastas in the baskets in the bottom. I also use one of those nifty wine holding bags from Fred Meyer to hold my italian soda flavorings. I completed this a while ago, but thought I would share in case anyone would enjoy a similar system.  And best yet, it's free/cheap and easy! Here is the end result.

And it's been about a year and it still looks about the same. Yeah! I found something that works for me long term.  :)

Testing: Homemade bathroom cleaner

I must confess I actually did this a few days ago, but I wanted to share.  I tested one of the recipes for homemade bathroom cleaner consisting of 2 cups vinegar heated on the stove (our microwave has been broken for...oh...9 months) with 2 T cornstarch and 4 T dawn dish soap.  My standard is scrubbing bubbles which allows me to wipe the three weeks of grime away without much work.  I know, terrible.

So, this was an easy recipe to make. I did one on the stove heating the vinegar...you need to mix the cornstarch first while it's cold...a lesson I learned the hard way.  Moved it to a spray bottle and added the dish soap and shook it up.  So far, so good.  Smell was vinegarry but not too terrible.  Here is the starting point on the bathroom.  For the faint of heart, look away.

Before you have a heart attack about the sink, it looks like this every day even after I wash it thanks to children who love the mud. And I did finally empty the garbage...which looks like that every three days thanks to allergies. Moving on.  I sprayed the bathroom down with the mixture. Wow....if I ever wanted to chemically remove the hair from my nostrils and any that might possibly be down my throat that would be the way to do it.  We eventually vacated the house to the park while it sat for an hour.  Somehow spraying it around was even worse than boiling it.

I came home and began to work on wiping down the bathrooms.  They were still burning strong smelling which was made even more unpleasant by the fact I had to stay in there a while scrubbing on the various fixtures.  No easy wipe it off was happening here.  It did look more white than I think it does after Scrubbing Bubbles, but it certainly didn't get everything off.  The smell also lingered all night long.  If I was doing the mad dash cleaning before a party I would probably call the event off due to being horrified by the smell, which if you know me is saying a lot. Here's the outcome:

Overall, I'm giving this a D.  I did work mostly, but took a lot of elbow grease, was somewhat inconvenient to make and smelled terrible.  Really, it was awful.  If it wasn't for that I would have given it better marks but I can't believe someone hasn't mentioned this before when suggesting it.  Truly awful.